Early Humans May Have Kept Colorful Stones and Fossils as Souvenirs Over 400,000 Years Ago

Early Humans May Have Kept Colorful Stones and Fossils as Souvenirs Over 400,000 Years Ago

Learn how objects found at early human sites could point to the origins of collecting items to remember people, places, and life events.

Humans May Have Kept Souvenirs 500,000 Years Ago, Study Suggests

Over time, this habit may have pushed human evolution toward the brain systems that hold a person's life story and sense of self.

Did prehistoric humans keep souvenirs? Study traces habit back 500,000 years

Tel Aviv University researchers say colorful stones and ancient tools may have served as personal keepsakes, helping early humans preserve memories and possibly shaping the evolution of autobiographical memory

Did early humans collect keepsakes 500,000 years ago?

Most of us are familiar with the urge to pick up a seashell from the beach or keep a stone from a hiking trip. The object itself may be ordinary, but to the person who keeps it, it serves as a reminder of a particular moment, place or person. Where did this behavior come from? Did early humans do the same? A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers suggests that this practice stretches back approximately half a million years, with important …

Ancient keepsakes may have helped shape human memory and identity

A new hypothesis links collected stones and old tools with personal memory, proposing a possible feedback between material culture and human cognition.